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From: NIH news releases and news items [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
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Sent: January 19, 2012 16:06
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Subject: GENETIC ABNORMALITY PREDICTS BENEFIT FROM TREATMENT FOR A RARE
BRAIN TUMOR
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
NIH News National Cancer Institute (NCI) <http://www.nci.nih.gov>
Embargoed for Release: Thursday, January 19, 2012, 4 p.m. EST
CONTACT: NCI Office of Media Relations,
301-496-6641,<e-mail:[log in to unmask]>
GENETIC ABNORMALITY PREDICTS BENEFIT FROM TREATMENT FOR A RARE BRAIN TUMOR
NIH-funded study shows doubling in survival time for patients with two
different chromosomal deletions
A clinical trial has shown that addition of chemotherapy to radiation
therapy leads to a near doubling of median survival time in patients with a
form of brain tumor (oligodendroglioma) that carries a chromosomal
abnormality called the 1p19q co-deletion. This abnormality is characterized
by the simultaneous deletion of the short arm of chromosome 1 and long arm
of chromosome 19. The presence of the chromosomal abnormality was associated
with substantially better prognosis and marked improvements in survival in a
treatment program of combined chemotherapy and radiation therapy compared to
radiation therapy alone. Oligodendrogliomas are characterized by tumors
that form in the nerve tissue of the brain. The study was supported by the
National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health.
In the trial, 286 patients with aggressive oligodendrogliomas were randomly
assigned to study groups of equal size to receive radiotherapy alone or
radiotherapy plus PCV chemotherapy, which includes the drugs procarbazine,
lomustine and vincristine. Tumor tissue from all patients was collected and
stored for genetic tests. The analysis was performed when about half of the
patients had been followed for just over 11 years.
Oligodendrogliomas occur primarily in adults, and the average age at
diagnosis is 35. The tumors comprise 9.4 percent of all primary brain and
central nervous system tumors.
For the entire study population, the median overall survival time for
patients receiving radiotherapy alone or radiotherapy plus PCV chemotherapy
was similar. However, the 126 patients with 1p19q co-deleted tumors had much
longer median survival times than the 135 patients whose tumors did not
carry the 1p19q co-deletion: 8.7 years versus 2.7 years. This observation
suggests that patients whose tumors contain the chromosomal abnormality will
live substantially longer than patients whose tumors don't carry it,
regardless of treatment. Even more impressive, however, was the finding
that 1p19q co-deletion predicted the benefit from adding chemotherapy to
radiotherapy. Patients with 1p19q co-deleted tumors who received PCV
chemotherapy plus radiotherapy (59 patients) had a median overall survival
time of 14.7 years, compared with only 7.3 years for patients with
co-deleted tumors who received radiotherapy alone (67 patients). Patients
whose tumors did not have the chromosomal abnormality did not show an
improvement in survival from the addition of chemotherapy.
The study, known as RTOG 9402, was led by the Radiation Therapy Oncology
Group (RTOG) with the participation of the North Central Cancer Treatment
Group, the National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group, the
Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group, and SWOG (formerly the Southwest
Oncology Group).
"The Radiation Therapy Oncology Group and other participating cooperative
groups are to be congratulated for conducting this randomized clinical trial
in a rare form of brain tumor that took many years," said Jeffrey Abrams,
M.D., associate director, Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program, NCI. "Their
persistence and dedication was rewarded as this genetic abnormality has a
powerful effect on survival, and the results will change how patients with
this disease are treated. This clinical trial also highlights the necessity
for collecting tumor tissue for genetic studies to define more precisely the
patients who benefit most from specific therapies."
Currently, NCI is supporting two additional studies that attempt to improve
on the treatment of these brain tumors. Details on both studies can be
viewed at:
CODEL trial N0577 --
<http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/study/NCT00887146?term=N0577&rank=1>
CATNON trial RTOG 0834 --
<http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/study/NCT00626990?term=rtog+0834&rank=1>
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) leads the National Cancer Program and
the NIH effort to dramatically reduce the burden of cancer and improve the
lives of cancer patients and their families, through research into
prevention and cancer biology, the development of new interventions, and the
training and mentoring of new researchers. For more information about
cancer, please visit the NCI Web site at <http://www.cancer.gov> or call
NCI's Cancer Information Service at 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237).
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical
research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal
agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical
research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both
common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs,
visit <www.nih.gov>.
NIH...Turning Discovery into Health
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